This week, I have been increasingly stoked on Santa Fe, New Mexico. I think it is an amazing place to live and I straight up want to yell it from on top of a mountain.
Preaching about Santa Fe has become one of my regular activities, though, I have to say that when I was growing up in northern New Mexico, I couldn't wait to get the fuck out. I literally had no appreciation for the place and I felt like instead of being "The Land of Enchantment", New Mexico was more like "The Land on Entrapment."
I mean, I was an angst-y 17 year old and on top of that, I looked around me and saw those who lived here as just being the unfortunate ones who couldn't catch a break or didn't get out of the state while they still could. Yup, that's a lot of ill feeling towards a place. However, when the state only had one area code for the entire place - yes, I kid you not, the whole state had one area code until I was 18 years old - 505, it was easy to feel a little bit claustrophobic. It was if everyone was in each other's business and I thought this place had nothing to offer me. So, I ran from the 505 as soon as I was free from my parents overprotective clutches and I took off...never to return again! Ever!
Until I came back for real a couple of months ago. But, surprisingly, I didn't find the state that I had forsaken all of those years before. In fact, living in Santa Fe is a much different experience than I have ever known, because I keep meeting people who...want to be here. And, on top of that, I keep meeting young people, and rad young people at that, who have chosen, on their own, to move HERE from OTHER states! Hah! Mind blowing, right?
There is a sense of excitement and passionate energy swirling through the air of Santa Fe. Since I work at a liberal little place with a pretty high turn over rate, I get to meet people all of the time who are just moving to Santa Fe now and are psyched on it. They gush to me about the captivating landscape, the sunshine, the art scene, the outdoor activities, and the laid back lifestyle that they are setting into. Oh, and the kindness of the people here! One guy, who I work with, was telling me how he just moved here from the east coast and was also working in a deli there, but he said that the customers there were nothing like those here, where most everyone is friendly and nice to interact with. As he continued about his feelings regarding Santa Fe, I realized that it was the narrative that I am hearing from people all over the place. People are moving to Santa Fe with romantic notions and getting enchanted by the new age medicine, art, and community aspect that this city provides.
It's funny when you return to a place, or have the opportunity to look at it through a different lens. I even told my dad the other day, as we hiked through the golden aspens that decorate the Sangre de Cristo mountains on one of those "Indian summer" kind of days (sunny and summery though it is almost November), that I could be completely happy if I stayed in Santa Fe. I told him about the interesting and amazing people I keep meeting here, the opportunities I have to partake in outdoor activities in this incredible weather, and the chance to explore a place that I once knew so well, like I'm a tourist, makes me feel like I'm falling in love with the place for the first time.
I think New Mexico is not the kind of place that is traditionally beautiful, like a Hawaiian sunset, but it is beautiful just the same. If you take the time to notice the expansive blue sky juxtaposed with a landscape riddled with drama and emotion, if you get to spend time talking to people who have a strong sense of history and a pride for their culture, and if you let the excitement and energy of those around you entice you with their art and magic, this place will reveal itself to you, and when it does, you will see the beauty.
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